China's Pains And Gains At The Olympic Games
Beijing Olympics and The Diplomacy Of Sabotage
Apr 9, 2009
The Beijing Olympic Games were very significant in China’s relations with the outside world in two major ways. Firstly, it provided a rare opportunity for China to plunge itself into the community of great nations by showcasing its new economic, social, technological and organizational might. Secondly, for the West, this was a golden opportunity to take China to task over its alleged atrocities in Africa and human rights abuses within China itself.
Bad Signs on The Eve of The Olympics
The years and months preceding the Games were the most difficult in China’s recent history. Disasters visited China in rapid succession beginning with the devastating bird flu in November 2005. This was followed by the snow disaster of February 2008, the train accident of April 2008 and the monumental earthquake at Sichuan province which tested China’s ability to withstand natural pressure. Added to China’s worries were the uprisings in Xingjian and the restless Tibet.
The Olympic Torch relay met with protests in almost all European capitals. In an open act of provocation to Beijing, many western leaders granted audiences to the Dalai Lama and presented him with countless awards. This inspired fresh and regular anti-Chinese protests in Tibet which put additional strain on China’s already troubled morale.
The Western Diplomacy of Sabotage Prior to The Olympics Games
The difficulties confronting China prior to the Games provided an ideal terrain for the West to launch a ferocious campaign of sabotage to frustrate Beijing’s Olympic aspirations. The West used Africa in general and Sudan in particular to convince the world that China was not mature enough to host the Games because of its poor human rights records. President Bush clearly defined the situation in Darfur as genocide, meaning that China was party to this butchery and therefore had blood on its hands because of its connections with Sudan.
Picking on the theme of genocide, human rights activists vigorously campaigned for a complete boycott of the Games. Hollywood celebrity, Mia Farrow labeled the Games as “genocide Games” and linked it with Hitler’s Games of 1936. Things turned bitter for China when film maker Steven Spielberg announced that he was withdrawing as an artistic adviser.
“These Olympics are a geopolitical debutante ball for China,” said Ally Brooks-Lasure of the U.S based organization – Save Darfur. “They are to highlight China’s ascension to the stage of world power, and that makes it quite reasonable for human rights advocates to highlight what they are doing around the world.” Reporters Without Frontiers (RWF), used the arrest and detention of China’s prominent activist, Hu Jia as visible proof of China’s human rights violations.
Beijing Takes The Bull By The Horns
The task of appeasing the West, coping with internal crises, foregoing its interests in Africa and presenting a show worthy of its status as a formidable power, were enormous challenges for China. Beijing’s master strategy was to depart from its traditional position of silence in the face of western onslaught. China swiftly mobilized its entire diplomatic, political and economic might for this purpose. The media was also greased for the purpose of rekindling the flames of nationalism. The press and internet came under very strict censorship and the movement and activities of foreigners closely monitored.
Beijing began its “Africa offensive” with a grand tour of eight African countries by President Hu Jintao in February 2007. This was inspired by the success of the China-Africa Summit which had earlier held in Beijing the previous year. Hu dispatched his most seasoned diplomat Liu Guijing to Darfur as proof of his commitment to end the crisis in Sudan. After a tour of western capitals to re-assure his critics, Liu gave a briefing in Beijing in which he insisted “We are using our relationship with the Sudanese government to exert leverage.” This spectacle dragged on until August 2008 as the world anxiously awaited news of failure from Beijing.
The Beijing Olympics And China’s Triumph
The opening ceremony of the Games saw the conspicuous presence of President George Bush whose attendance had remained an issue of heated speculation. Bush later attended religious service at a Beijing church after which he made a thinly veiled attack on China. “It goes to show that God is universal,” he said. “God is love and no state, man or woman should fear the influence of religion.”
Though President Bush continued to ramble about human rights concerns, his presence was without doubt a diplomatic victory for China. It marked the triumph of “high politics” and a veiled lesson to the rest of the world that issues about human rights, religious freedom and the butchery of innocent people any where in the world are secondary to the interests of great powers.
The Games went according to plan and China was paid off in gold. Since the end of the Games, the U.S and Europe have relapsed into crisis. Talks about human rights have slowed down considerably if not completely. President Hu Jintao again made a whirlwind tour of Africa in February 2009 to reassure the continent of China’s unflinching support. “We will increase our investment in Africa,” he said in Mali at the beginning of his tour. “China will ask the international community to honor their promises to developing countries,” Hu insisted. What next will the West say about China's moves in Africa?
 |
